Many people are in the situation where they temporarily rent out their property to pleasant reliable tenants and would very much like to extend the rent a bit. The desire of these “landlords” is usually that they then do NOT want the tenants to have rent protection. After all, in the Netherlands you can only offer a tenant a fixed-term lease once and also for a max term of 24 months. For every day the tenant rents longer or every2nd lease or extension he gets from you, the tenant enjoys DIRECT rent protection (i.e. he never has to leave if he doesn’t want to). The only way to do this is to draw up a lease with a diplomatic clause beforehand (that is, if your tenants have not yet started renting). Again: you can only do this if the lease with the tenants is not yet in place.
Can’t I still incorporate a diplomatic clause?
The diplomatic clause provides a way to extend the temporary lease you have for x period of time each time WITHOUT giving the tenant rent protection. The big problem is that many people are already renting out their homes at this time and the current lease does not yet include a diplomatic clause. As dastardly as it is, there is then nothing you can do to reverse it. In other words, you cannot retroactively put a diplomatic clause in the current lease. And no, you also can’t give the tenants a new contract that does include a diplomatic clause. If you want to be absolutely sure that the tenants do not accrue rent protection, you will have to terminate the contract with the tenants. For people who still want to take the risk, we give you an option later in this article.
Diplomacy clause is not meant for real estate investors
The diplomatic clause is really for people who (for example, due to work) want/need to live somewhere else temporarily and want to rent out their own home with the security of being able to return here. Thus, this clause is NOT for real estate investors who want to rent out properties that they realistically do not need to return to themselves. In this article, we explain all about renting with the diplomatic clause.
Revolving door assemblies
I practice people trying all kinds of things to still be able to renew the lease with current tenants without giving the tenants rent protection. Think about parking the tenants in a bungalow park for 3 months, putting the contract in someone else’s name redrafting and signing the current ongoing lease, etc.
Note: If your “pleasant” tenants with whom you had such a good relationship of trust are suddenly not so nice anymore and you appear in court, the judge will not fall for creative “revolving door constructions” such as those described above.
Renewal with addendum and termination
First of all, a very important disclaimer: what we are describing here is in fact also a creative construction that is not foolproof. But it can be a solution for people who still want to take the risk of renewing their temporary lease (without a diplomatic clause).
What it needs to do is to have clearly in writing that the tenant KNOWS that you need the property for urgent personal use and can be shown that you as the landlord would not have renewed if the property might not be returned to you. In addition, you really just want to have a signed letter of termination from the tenant on your doormat.
This is NOT how it should be and this is NOT what is guaranteed to hold up in court, but of the creative solutions out there, this is the best.
Step-by-step plan to extend temporary rental:
- Engage in good face-to-face verbal consultation with your tenants. So ABSOLUTELY NOT by email/whatsapp, etc. You really want to avoid a filing as a result where this construction is interpreted in a judge as a “revolving door construction” that is void.
- Ask carefully what your tenants’ plans are and whether they are realistic. For example, if your tenants plan to rent another property nearby after your lease extension for an unrealistic budget, they won’t move out of your property because they simply won’t be able to rent something else. Make sure you can make a good assessment if it’s in that area.
- Ask (orally) your tenants for a signed termination letter dated after that renewal date. Your tenants can use this sample letter for this purpose: Sample letter Dutch OR Sample letter English . This tenant notice can only work if it is sent sincerely from tenants and also by tenants to you and also after the new lease term(s) have already started.
- Complete and sign this addendum with your tenants. Addendum extending rent Dutch OR Addendum extend rental English
- Simply, always ensure an excellent tenant-landlord relationship where you always conduct yourself as a good landlord who neatly picks up business, does not squeeze tenants, resolves defects immediately, communicates well and pleasantly, etc. If you are respected as a landlord you already take away a lot of risk!
The reason for having written this almost “illegal article” is because many people contact me for advice on this topic. These people have then temporarily rented their own homes to pleasant tenants whom they very much wish them to be able to continue renting a little longer while they themselves temporarily live somewhere else. Due to a cumbersomeness in Dutch law, these good-hearted landlords are unable to extend a fixed-term contract if it does not contain a diplomatic clause. If you then want to exclude rent protection for your tenants, you really have no choice but to evict your tenants. Therefore, hopefully this article will give you the tools to make the right choice. The construction we propose at the end is not good legally, but when applied correctly it hopefully minimizes the chances of tenants refusing to leave.
Goodluck!
Rent out property properly and safely?
We specialize in legally watertight property rentals in North Holland and South Holland. Call or email Floris van Kuijeren at 06-47470404 / floris@vkmakelaars.nl. You can also visit rental agent page for more information!